At the DEKM Fund, we’re on a mission to make a difference and heal our broken world, by supporting one overlooked cause at a time. We contribute to underfunded causes that are in desperate need of funding and attention to find solutions for those affected.
We work with small, persevering, and compassionate foundations and labs that are in the trenches, working on problems that aren’t getting the funding and attention they need to find answers.
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a type of brainstem glioma, meaning it is a tumor that arises from the supportive cell (glial) tissue in the brainstem. The brainstem is responsible for essential neurological functions such as respiration, heart rate, and motor coordination. DIPG accounts for approximately 10-15% of all childhood brain tumors, with a majority of cases occurring in children aged 5-9 years old.
The aggressiveness of DIPG tumors is determined by their infiltrative nature and location within the brainstem, which makes complete surgical removal nearly impossible. Prognosis for children with DIPG remains poor, with survival rates remaining relatively unchanged over the past few decades. However, ongoing research and clinical trials are providing improved treatment options and are making progress in ultimately changing the outlook for DIPG patients. (Source: ChadTough Website)
In 2014, DEKM Fund Founder, Evelyn Morris and her husband, David, received the diagnosis that their daughter Kate had T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A newly identified form of leukemia (discovered by St. Jude in 2009), it had a 30%, 5-year survival rate.
The reason Kate survived is because of funding for the research to find a treatment. Their family benefited from funding from people they’ll never meet and they’re paying this forward.
The DEKM Fund supports ChadTough by providing funding that’s fueling the most promising and innovative research for this challenging disease. We support the research that results in saving lives and healing individuals and families.
Learn More About Chad Tough by visiting their website: chadtough.org
Tomten Farm and Sanctuary provides peace, protection, and possibility to animals in need.
Founded in 2014, Tomten is a 75+ acre farm located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They strive to create a lifelong home for animals in need through a sustainable and responsible approach. They focus on giving each Rescue compassion, love, and comfort for the rest of his/her days.
They host over 50 Rescues including horses, goats, cows, sheep, pigs, donkeys, mules, cats and fowl. All arrive with their own unique story, each saved from what would have been a terrible fate, each an important ambassador for others like them. Need is everywhere. Need is constant. And, the need is great.
(Source: Tomten Farm & Sanctuary Website)
At DEKM Fund, we’re animal lovers ourselves and strive to be a spark that sets ablaze change in the lives of precious animals, like the ones rescued by Tomten.
Our contribution makes a critical difference in the wellbeing of these animals and makes the impossible possible for a peaceful, safe final home.
We specifically support and are co-founders of The Dobbin Fund, a very special program for senior equids (horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules). The Dobbin Fund is a resource for unwanted, unaffordable, and unadoptable equids that have nowhere to go. The lost seniors who wish for nothing more than a home to call their own.
Learn More About Tomten Farm & Sanctuary and our contributions to the Dobbin Fund by visiting their website: https://tomtenfarmandsanctuary.org/
The Mancias Lab at Dana Farber is focused on the study of pancreatic cancer, a highly lethal and treatment refractory cancer. The third leading cause of cancer in the US, these patients are in desperate need of innovative approaches and treatment solutions.
The Mancias Lab studies critical aspects of the biology of pancreatic cancer in order to develop novel therapeutic approaches. The lab takes a comprehensive approach combining biochemical, quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomic, gene editing, cell biological, and mouse modeling techniques to advance our understanding of pancreatic cancer.
(Source: Mancias Lab at Dana Farber)
Discovering new methods of early detection is a priority for pancreatic cancer research as well as finding reliable ways to treat and eradicate the cancer.
The DEKM Fund supports the Mancias Lab at Dana Farber in giving pancreatic cancer patients a fighting chance at long-term survival and finding a cure.
Learn More About the Mancias Lab at Dana Farber by visiting their website: https://manciaslab.dana-farber.org/
“The founders of the DEKM Fund saw the need to step in and help work towards a goal of finding a cure for DIPG, which although considered rare, accounts for over 50 percent of childhood brain cancer deaths annually. In gratitude for the health of their daughter Kate, a pediatric leukemia survivor, the Morris’ have committed themselves to helping us to change the future of DIPG. Evelyn Morris understands that years ago, Leukemia had a similar survival rate to DIPG. Our mutual goal is that one day in the not too far future, the survival rates of DIPG will look more like the survival rates of Leukemia today. We truly believe that we are stronger when we work together, and we are so grateful that the DEKM has chosen to work with the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation to change the future for the kids who will come next.”
